The sixth king of the first Amorite dynasty of Babylon and one of the best known of the Mesopotamian kings. In c 1783 BC he began the series of campaigns which extended his empire from Mari and Nineveh to the Persian Gulf. He is best remembered for his Code of Laws which had an emphasis on retaliation and an eye for an eye, but which marked a considerable advance. The Code of Hammurabi also yield detailed evidence on the structure of contemporary society. His 43-year reign saw the final extinction of Sumer as a political power. His empire declined soon after his death, until taken by the Hittites and Kassites c 1595 BC. The lasting achievement of Hammurabi's rule was that the important part of Mesopotamia, which had been in the south from the beginning of the 3rd millennium BC, was shifted to the north, where it remained for more than 1,000 years.